Another big U.S. election has come and gone and our unique two-party system is alive and well.
I love elections. Democracy is beautiful. I thank God we live in a free country. Three-quarters of the world population lives in countries with autocracies and no real democracy.
Our two-party system is unique in the world. It’s been a huge factor in the unparalleled success of our nation.
Our founding father, George Washington, did not like political parties and warned against them in his farewell address. After all, a political party is a group of private citizens organizing in hopes of taking over the government. That doesn’t sound very democratic.
But the two-party system has had the remarkable attribute of balancing stability with popular choice. It prevents one-party domination by ensuring there is an equally powerful alternative party to replace the one in power.
Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. When one party takes control of all branches of our government, corruption is guaranteed. Martin Luther called that “the total depravity of man” and as a Presbyterian I completely agree.
In this case, President Trump got a little too big for his britches and the American people, who detest a powerful bully, knocked him down.
Same thing happened just a few years ago when the Democrats controlled all branches of government. It’s the way our system works. The ultimate check on absolute power is the voting power of the American electorate. The two-party system makes it easy. There is always an experienced, developed, reliable alternative waiting in the wings and licking their chops to get back into power.
The election results should have surprised no one. Over the last 200 years, only 6 percent of the time has the party holding executive power not lost ground in the midterms. Add to that inflation, war, corruption and low consumer confidence, and it was obvious how this would go down.
They say the three things you don’t talk about at a dinner party are sex, religion and politics. Too much emotion and strong opinions.
Having been a journalist my whole life, I’m used to the ebb and flow of politics. Politics don’t get me riled up. As an independent and moderate, I see both sides.
The two-party system has a symmetry to the two overarching theories of running a nation — capitalism versus socialism, efficiency versus equality, personal liberty versus the common good. The Republican Party tends toward capitalism, efficiency and liberty. The Democratic Party tends toward socialism, equality and the common good.
There is no right or wrong here. Both sides have pros and cons. Almost every nation in the world is a delicate mix of these two overarching political philosophies. And the handful of countries that don’t find a healthy balance are disasters like Cuba, Iran and North Korea.
Trump did some great things and he did some horrible things. It will always be so for political leaders. The main point is to prevent totalitarianism and maintain ultimate accountability by and for the people. That happened this election. It’s why elections make me happy.
I am ecstatic that Trump is not contesting these election results. Praise the Lord. The peaceful transition of power by the most powerful nation on earth has always been a great hallmark of the United States. Let’s hope those chaotic days are behind us. The U.S. should be better than a banana republic.
I voted for Trump in his first term. I thought it would be worthwhile to see how a businessman, rather than a professional politician, would perform in office. He accomplished a lot, but in the end Trump’s lack of decades of political experience proved too much to overcome. You need both the efficiency of a business executive and the diplomacy of an experienced politician to make the most of the Presidential office. Trump had one but lacked the other. There is no perfect candidate.
I worry about Iran and whether the Democrats have the will to see this challenge through. We simply cannot let Iran get nuclear weapons. We only have to look at North Korea to see that lesson. North Korea has become a criminal cyberstate backed with a nuclear arsenal wreaking untold chaos throughout the world. There are some costs that come with being the world’s righteous superpower.
I am happy for Ukraine. The Democratic Party has been a stalwart supporter of standing up to Putin’s horrible, demonic war. Zelensky is a hero and we should support him until victory.
I worry about immigration. Trump rightly stopped an onslaught of illegal immigration, but he did it in a manner that betrayed the most important values of our nation. And picking a needless fight with Canada, our closest ally, was inscrutable.
In the end, corruption was the single most important issue for voters, according to the pollsters. I could not vote for Hillary Clinton because of the foundation the Clintons established for their benefit while in office. Trump’s corruption made that look like child’s play. Let’s hope that message from the voters rings in the ears of our political leaders for a long, long time.
